No Rest For The Weary
by polgara-5
Summary: COMPLETE When warnings and visions collide, Buffy discovers that her new foe comes from a place much farther away. She can only hope that her new friends at the SGC can help. Sequel to Back To Work
1. Default Chapter

**Title:** No Rest For The Weary

**Rated:** PG-13 (for violence later on)

**Spoilers:** Anything up to the first few episodes of Season Eight of Stargate and all of Buffy is fair game.

**Summary:** When warnings and visions collide, Buffy discovers that her new foe comes from a place much farther away. She can only hope that her new friends at the SGC can help.

**Disclaimer:** I sadly own none of these characters. If I did, you would never see Jack ever again cause I'd keep him locked up in my house as my personal play toy.

**A/N:** Ignore anything said about the Scoobies during the last season of Angel. I've also modified parts of that season of Angel to fit my own diabolical mind.

**A/N2:** This part will be the last of this trilogy. The storyline has run its course, there will be no more when this one is finished. The plot for this one is more complicated that the last two so I've broken it into two chapters. The next one should be up in about a month.

No Rest For The Weary

Buffy stormed off the elevator and onto the floor where Angel's office was located followed closely by Faith, Dawn, and Andrew. They had gone to L.A. immediately after leaving Colorado Springs. Drusilla's ramblings left too many questions unanswered and Angel seemed to be the best one to answer them.

The blonde slayer drew up short when she recognized the person sitting at the receptionist desk. "Harmony?"

"Oh, hey Buffy!" The vampire said cheerfully.

"Who's that?" Andrew asked.

"She went to school with Buffy, now she's a vampire," Dawn explained.

"See! Evil law firm! Evil secretary! Angel's evil, too!" Andrew cried in a shrill voice.

"Shut up, Andrew," the three chorused.

"Angel's in a meeting, but if you'd like to wait..." Harmony began.

"Nope, no waiting," Buffy said as she marched over to the double doors and kicked them open. "This is important."

The office's three occupants looked up when the doors flew open. Fred and Wesley blinked in surprise while Angel rose from his chair behind the desk. "Buffy..."

"Where did you get that amulet?" Buffy asked, cutting him off.

"I told you it wasn't a reliable source, but it worked didn't it?" He asked.

"Hello, crater! Of course it worked," Dawn said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Where did you get it?" Buffy asked again. "What research did you do? What else can it do?"

"I got it from Lilah. It was part of the agreement of taking Wolfram and Hart over," Angel explained.

"What else?"

"That's it. I took it and left to help you. Not that you would let me," he said in a slightly injured tone. "I told you then that I didn't know anything about it."

"Can I add something?" Wesley asked from his chair.

"No!" Buffy said, before shooting a glare at Angel. "Drusilla said Spike was alive. Could the amulet do that?"

Angel's head popped up in surprise. "You saw Dru?"

"So not the issue here!" Buffy said in frustration. "Could the amulet bring him back?" She asked again slowly, emphasizing each word.

The vampire dropped his gaze to his desk. "I _suppose_ it could. I mean we don't really _know_ what its powers were," he said evasively.

"You're dodging there, brood boy," Faith said, narrowing her eyes. She caught the nervous look on Fred's face. "What's going on here?"

"There you are, Peaches," said a very familiar British voice from behind them.

Tears sprung up in Buffy's eyes and she squeezed them shut. The possibility of Spike really being alive and just standing behind her shook her to the very core. Opening her eyes she turned to see an equally stunned Spike staring back at her.

"Spike?" She whispered.

"Buffy," he said just as softly.

"Is it really you?" She asked, scared that if she reached out to touch him that he'd disappear. A hint of a smirk appeared on his lips and she smiled in response. "You dope."

Andrew couldn't take the quiet reunion any longer and ran to the vampire. "Thank the Force you're alive!" He cried as he threw his arms around Spike. "You came back to us! Like Gandalf or, or Goku!"

"Will someone get the geek off of me?" Spike asked as the boy hugged him harder.

Faith pulled Andrew away and smiled at Spike. "Glad to see ya in one piece, Blondie."

"I see you made it, too," he said in approval.

"What can I say, I'm a survivor."

Spike looked at the other brunette. "You're lookin' good, Dawn."

She tried to remain aloof, but failed. She didn't embrace Spike as hard as Andrew did, but she did hug him warmly. "I've missed you."

"You too, 'Bit."

After releasing her, Spike took several steps towards the woman who filled his dreams and his waking thoughts. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but feared she'd pull away. He just watched various emotions flicker over her face - relief, joy, anger, sadness, relief again, before settling on anger. It was all the warning he received before Buffy punched him in the face.

"You bastard! Did you think I wouldn't find you hiding here?"

"Whoa! Hold off slayer!" Spike said as he pinched his nose to try and stop the blood flow.

"How long have you been back?"

"A month and a half," he said. He jumped out of her reach as she swung again. "Hey now! I couldn't leave, I was stuck here."

"What do you mean?" She turned to the others. "What's he talking about?"

Fred adjusted her glasses and stood. "The amulet was sent back to us and Spike reappeared when Angel opened the envelope."

"Who sent it?" Dawn asked.

"We don't know," Fred answered with a shrug of her slim shoulders. "But Spike was ghost-like and was confined to the city of L.A. He told us not to call you; he didn't want you to see him like that."

"Told you I couldn't leave," Spike muttered, earning him a glare from Angel.

"Then a few days ago there was a flash of light and he was... well, alive," Fred finished with a big smile.

"Obviously he's... wait. Alive, as in alive alive?" Buffy asked.

"Feel for yourself, luv," Spike said, holding his arms out wide.

Buffy hesitantly walked over and reached out to touch his cheek with her fingers. "You're warm," she said in wonder. She moved her fingers to his neck. "There's even a pulse."

"I'm a real boy," he said with a smirk. "Even got a few perks."

"Like what?" Dawn asked with interest.

"Still got my speed and strength."

"Go ahead, rub it in," Angel said as he plopped down in his chair.

"Stop being a drama queen, you big poofter," Spike said while Buffy and the others continued to marvel at the manner of his return.

"Should have been me," Angel muttered.

"Well it wasn't, so sod off," Spike bit back. "I can still hear."

"What's he talking about?" Buffy asked.

"Why don't we all sit down? It's a fairly long explanation," Wesley said, gesturing to the various chairs in Angel's office.

* * *

"Let me make sure I've got this straight," Buffy said a half hour later. "You heard this prophecy about a souled vampire who became human as a reward for saving the world. You thought this shoe prophecy..." 

"Shanshu," Wesley corrected.

"This shoe prophecy," she continued, "was about Angel, but instead it was Spike. Now he's human and sort of like a male slayer. Is there anything else?"

"When you put it that way... no," Angel said with a sigh.

"So what now?" Faith asked.

"I was just gettin' ready to leave when the lot of you showed up," Spike said. "I think I've had enough of L.A."

"Where will you go?" Buffy asked softly.

Spike turned his blue eyes to gaze into her own. "I _was_ going to find you."

"Oh come on," Angel protested.

"You found me, now what?" Buffy asked, ignoring Angel's outburst.

"I'd like to go with you. But if you don't want..."

"When can you leave?" She asked.

"Let's see. I'll need to pack, oh wait! Don't own anything. Need to say goodbye to everyone." He looked at Angel, Fred, and Wesley. "It's been fun, a real blast, but see ya later. Tell Gunn bye for me." He turned back to Buffy. "I'm ready to go."

* * *

"What have you got for us, Carter?" Jack asked as he walked into the briefing room where SG-1 sat. 

"I tried to get back into their database, but they've installed some unusual firewalls. I tried everything I know to get past them. Even tried some new things, but nothing worked," Sam said.

"Do you think it could be mystical?" Daniel asked.

"I doubt it. I just don't see how you could combine electrical equipment with 'magic'. It's probably just a sophisticated software. Willow's background had shown strong computer abilities," Sam said with a shake of her head.

"Aren't there backdoors into those kind of systems?" Jack asked.

"I looked. They've got it locked down tight. It's amazing, sir. I've never seen a system like it before."

"But I'm guessin' you found something," Jack said, looking at the stack of folders she had and urging her to continue.

"Yes." She passed the thick folders out as she talked. "I tracked their flight to Los Angeles and they went directly to Wolfram and Hart - a law firm."

"Lemme guess, it's run by an ex-boyfriend?" Jack asked.

"How did you know, sir?" She asked in surprise.

"Lucky guess," he said with a frown. "So what's with the 'evil' law firm?"

"In this case, it literally is an evil firm," Sam said with a half smile before elaborating. "They keep a few legit clients, but for the most part they deal with demons and mystical contracts. They have several branches located over the world. But things changed at the L.A. branch a several months ago when Angel took it over. Which by itself isn't too strange, except it happened only days before Sunnydale collapsed into the earth."

"What does this Angel have to do with it?" Daniel asked.

"He's Buffy's ex-boyfriend. He _also _happens to be a vampire who was cursed with a soul. He's suppose to be a champion for something called the Powers That Be," Sam said, checking the file in front of her.

"Wait a minute!" Jack said, an incredulous look on his face. "Are you telling me that Buffy, the _vampire slayer_, a woman who kicks some serious vampire ass on a daily basis, actually dated a vampire?"

"Umm, according to the file the firm kept on her, she dated two of them," Sam said with a weak smile.

"Most unusual," Teal'c said.

"Who was the other one?" Daniel asked.

"Drusilla's childe, Spike."

"He's the one who died saving the world, right?" Jack asked, trying to keep everything straight in his head.

"The same one," Sam confirmed.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Jack said in excitement. "Did you find out why they went to this _evil _law firm?"

Sam grinned. "Apparently to get Spike, since he left with them."

A slightly shocked silence followed her statement.

"Didn't you just say he died?" Daniel asked.

"He did, now he's back," she answered with a shrug, smiling at Daniel.

"Finally, people with weirder lives than our own," Jack said as he rubbed his eyes. "You got anything on that green energy that crazy vampire... or is it vampiress?"

"I think vampire will do, sir."

"Anything on that energy?"

"I was able to do a lot of snooping in Wolfram and Hart's database. They're defenses weren't as impenetrable as Girl's Unite. The closest I got was a ball of energy that was called the Key. A select order of monks was its original protector, but it was sent to Sunnydale over three years ago to a new protector."

"It is possible that Dawn Summers is the new protector. Every time Drusilla mentioned it, she looked directly at her," Teal'c said.

"But why send it to her instead of Buffy. Being the slayer, she'd be the more logical choice," Daniel argued.

Sam shook her head. "It's possible that there is something in Dawn's genetic makeup that made her better suited for the task. The General mentioned she used magic during the fight in the warehouse. Maybe the protector needed to do magic."

"That's possible, and Buffy could be there as backup," Daniel agreed, seeing the logic in Sam's statement.

"What is the Key's function?" Teal'c asked.

"What little they had on it, said it was a source of power and could break down dimensional walls."

"And that would be..." Jack started.

"Bad, very bad," Daniel said. "I did some digging into the Wiccan religion and the arts," he explained at Jack's curious look.

"Is any of this going to affect us?" Jack asked, satisfied that he had a better idea of what was going on.

"I don't see where it would, sir. Aside from the vampires here, this is outside our jurisdiction."

"Fine, but can we keep an eye on them somehow?"

"We tried already," Sam said with a sheepish look.

"Huh?"

"There are glitches that prevent any recordings and our observers say there are chunks of time passing that they don't remember," Sam explained.

"It would not be the first time that they have prevented such observations," Teal'c reminded Jack.

Jack leaned back in his chair. "Then we'll leave them be. We can always get a hold of them if we see anything else demony. Let's get back to business."

The warning klaxon began sounding, cutting off what Jack was going to say next.

"Unscheduled off world activation!" Came the familiar voice over the intercom.

"See, business as usual," Jack said as they got to their feet and headed to the gateroom.

* * *

Buffy looked up when Xander walked into her office. "What's up?" She asked seeing the worried look on his face. 

"We just heard from Willow."

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, knowing Willow would only break her three week retreat for something serious.

"One of the coven's seers saw something," Xander said, sitting in one of the large, overstuffed chairs. "Her words were - 'The Key is in danger. A snake beyond the Chaapa'ai is close to the power. The Last Chosen and the Shanshu shall stand beside her along with the Shol'va, the Former Host, and the Fallen. No other shall be there or the Key will fall into darkness. Only beyond the Chaapa'ai will the Key be able to fulfill her destiny.'"

Buffy's forehead connected with the top of her desk with a loud thud as Xander finished the message. "It's Tuesday isn't it?" She asked with a sigh and continued without waiting for an answer. "We've been back for five days. I suppose it was a nice long rest."

"I'm sorry, Buffy," Xander said, sympathy shining in his one eye.

She raised her head up. "Why does Chapstick sound familiar?"

"Because it's another name for the stargate," Giles said as he entered her office.

Her forehead hit the desk again. "That's not good."

"Why? I thought you got along with Jack and Daniel," Giles said in confusion. Buffy muttered something. "What was that?"

"We were kind of rude in our hasty retreat to L.A." She said, raising her head back up. The phone on her desk rang and she answered it. "This is Buffy Summers," she said with a weary sigh.

"Sounds like your week is going as well as mine," said a familiar voice.

"Speaking of the devil," she said with a groan. "Hi Jack."

"Hope you were only saying good things," he said.

"More vamp problems?" She asked hopefully.

"Ah, not exactly. We've just received some intelligence..."

"A gold is after some power called the key," she said.

"How'd you know?" He asked sullenly, a little disappointed that he didn't get to surprise her.

"Just got a warning from a seer."

"Well, then why don't you and Dawn head on out here and we'll take care of this little problem," he said cheerfully.

Buffy tensed. "Why Dawn?"

"She's the key's guardian isn't she," Jack said, sounding a little confused.

The tiny slayer was thankful that Jack couldn't see the relieved look on her face, the phone was not secure enough for that discussion. "Can you get clearance for four of us to get in the mountain?"

"Why four?"

"Our seer gave us some more info. I can explain better when we get there. Can you do it?"

"Yeah. Who's coming so I know who to clear?" He asked.

"Me, Dawn, Faith, and Spike."

"How soon can you get here?" He asked. Buffy could hear him scribbling the information down.

"Tomorrow morning."

"We'll see you then." Then he hung up the phone.

"Guess I should tell everyone to repack their bags," Buffy said as she placed the receiver onto the cradle.

"Are you sure it's wise for you to go?" Giles asked. "You weren't listed, that could be detrimental."

She smiled. "That's the easy part. I just can't go through the stargate with them."

"What's the hard part?" Xander asked.

"Convincing Jack that they have to go through."

* * *

"Luv, I sure hope you know what you're doing," Spike said as they stepped inside Cheyenne Mountain. They waited patiently while an office checked their bags. "Secret military bases and I don't exactly get along." 

"Like we're any better?" Buffy asked with a snort.

"My last visit to an underground facility wasn't pleasant."

"You didn't like getting your chip out?" Dawn asked.

"That one doesn't count, I don't remember it."

"Oh, then the time you were betraying us to Adam then," Buffy said.

"No! I meant when I actually got chipped," Spike nearly yelled.

"Oh, that time," the blonde said with a grin.

Spike was prevented from retorting by the airman checking their bags. "I'm afraid you can't take these into the Mountain," the young man said as he opened their weapons bag.

"Yes, we can, and we will," Faith said.

"No, ma'am, you can't."

Faith's eyes widened at being called ma'am and was about to retort when Buffy spoke up. "Just call Jack, I mean General O'Neill."

"He still won't..."

"Just call him. We're his guests," Buffy insisted.

He frowned, but picked up the phone and dialed. There was a short pause while he waited for someone on the other end to pick up. "Sir, this is Airman Jones... Yes, sir... They're carrying weapons... Sir?... Yes, sir."

"Well?" Buffy asked as he hung up.

"Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain," he said as he handed her the bag.

* * *

Daniel was waiting for them when they stepped off the elevator onto Level Eleven. He was leaning against the wall wearing green fatigues and a black tee. An uneasy smile graced his lips as he pushed off the wall. "Hi guys." 

Dawn surprised everyone by giving the archaeologist a hug. "How are things?"

"Same old, same old," he said with a light chuckle as he hugged her back. When they broke apart, he offered his hand to the only male in the company. "You must be Spike."

"Possibly."

Buffy elbowed him in the stomach. "Play nice."

Spike let out a suffering sigh. "And you are?" He asked, still staring at the other man.

"Daniel Jackson."

"Ah," Spike said as he finally shook the proffered hand. "The one interested in books and old rocks."

"You have to excuse him," Buffy said in a strained voice. "He doesn't have any manners."

"I do, too," Spike protested, straightening his leather coat. "I just don't use 'em."

Daniel watched the interaction with smile on his lips. He couldn't wait to watch Spike and Jack interact, it had all sorts of entertaining possibilities. "You need to sign in here before we take another elevator down."

"Again?" Buffy asked.

He shrugged. "Everybody does it."

"Fine," Buffy said and the four guests went over to sign in. They waited while Daniel swiped his card and they entered the second elevator.

When the doors slid shut, Faith sent a smoldering look in Daniel's direction. "Book boy, if I had known you looked so hot in military clothing I would have dressed up."

"Faith," Buffy said reproachingly, not really in the mood to listen to Faith torture the poor man. "Remember Robin back home? Your boyfriend, man, lover, whatever it is that you call him."

"I know, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just saying, he's a hottie. And if he looks this good in a uniform can you imagine how Jack looks?"

Buffy's only response was to send her another glare.

Daniel, somewhat used to their banter by now, kept out of the conversation, not wanting to pull more attention to himself. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the doors slid back open to reveal Level Twenty-Seven. He gallantly gestured that this was their stop with a sweep of his hand.

"Kind of dreary," Dawn said, walking close to Buffy and Spike.

"Let's just hope they're not running any Frankenstein experiments on aliens here," Buffy said dryly.

"Only if you count the unusual explosions in the science department," Daniel said cheerfully.

"Explosions?" Buffy asked.

"One of our on-going objectives is to obtain technology to help in our fight against the goa'uld. We bring back a lot of minerals that aren't native to Earth. So experiments occasionally, uh... get out of hand," he explained as he led them up some stairs and into a room that contained a long table surrounded by chairs. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c were already there waiting for them.

After introducing Spike, everyone took a seat around the table.

"Can I just say something before we start?" Buffy asked suddenly, preventing Jack from speaking. "I just want to apologize for our rudeness the last time we were here. Some of our allies had been less than truthful with us and we needed to find out what was going on."

"We don't know _anyone _like that," Jack said with a dark grin, his voice filled with irony.

"Jack," Daniel said under his breath.

"Just because, say like, the Tok'ra, suddenly decide to renege their alliance with us in the middle of a controversy. I'm not bitter about it at all," Jack said grandly.

Buffy couldn't help but grin at him. She wasn't the least bit surprised to see he was dressed in casual military fatigues like the rest of SG-1 despite the fact that he was in charge of the base. The blonde was pleased to note that her initial impression of the man was accurate - he was not a sit behind the desk kind of guy, but more of an action, go-getter type. She also noted that Faith was right, he was a total hottie in uniform.

"So what's the big news you got for us?" She asked.

"Sam's father, Jacob, sent word to us that a lesser goa'uld known as Yort is planning on secretly invading Earth to find a weapon known as the Key," Daniel said.

"Yort?" Spike asked with a snort.

"Yort," Jack said with smirk of his own.

"Where did he get this info?" Faith asked.

Jack let out an uneasy laugh. "Funny thing about that. Jacob is a Tok'ra."

"You just said they weren't reliable," Faith pointed out.

"Well... not really, okay yeah. We've had trust issues with the Tok'ra in the past. Except Jacob is different," Jack assured them. "He has ties with Earth, and he and Selmak..."

"Selmak?" Dawn asked.

"His symbiote," Sam said. "She's one of the oldest of the Tok'ra."

"They both try to do what's best for Earth," Jack said. "We can trust them."

Buffy looked disbelievingly at him.

"Let me put it this way," Jack said, his face serious. "_I_ trust him."

She nodded. Her instincts told her that Jack didn't hand out that level of trust to just anyone. The fact that he practically vocalized his feelings towards the man told Buffy all she needed to know. "What made you think of us?"

"We did some snooping," Jack said with a shrug.

"I hacked into Wolfram and Hart's mainframe when I couldn't get back into yours," Sam said.

"Impressive," Dawn said. "They even gave Willow trouble and she can hack into anything."

"Dawn!" Buffy said. "Not such a good idea to tell the military the name of our hacker."

"Like they hadn't figured it out already," Dawn said with a roll of her eyes.

"We won't do anything, I promise," Sam assured them before continuing. "We discovered that the green energy that Drusilla kept talking about was a mystical energy known as the Key. She looked at Dawn every time she mentioned it, so we put two and two together."

"And that made...?" Buffy asked with a blank look on her face.

"That Dawn is the Key's guardian," Daniel said, a look of light confusion in his eyes. "That is who she is, right?"

Buffy looked over at her sister. "Dawn, plug the ears."

Dawn nodded. The brunette raised the palm of her hand up and mumbled something. Even listening closely this time, Daniel couldn't make out the words.

When she finished, she said, "They're still recording us. Picture is there, but the sound is breaking up."

"What I'm about to say, can't leave this room," Buffy said. "In fact, the four of you can't tell anyone about this."

"Buffy Summers, I assure you that the SGC will hold everything you say in the strictest confidence," Teal'c spoke up.

"No, I trust _you_ guys. But I don't know your friends or your friends' friends. I don't know everyone in this facility. I barely trust you, but that's because I have to in order for us to succeed, but beyond that no one else," the blonde argued. "And believe me, if I find out you break this confidence I'll hunt you down."

The members of the SGC looked at each other and seemed to carry on a conversation without words. Jack finally nodded and said, "You have our word, no one will hear about this."

"Dawn is the Key," Buffy stated simply.

"Huh?" Jack asked.

"Dawn is the Key," she repeated slowly.

"That's impossible," Daniel said. "The Key is a mystical, green energy."

"I know. But trust me, Dawn was made from the Key."

Four heads turned as one to look at Dawn in disbelief. She smiled nervously and nodded. Even though she had had time to come to terms with her Keyness, she was worried about how others would see her.

Comprehension dawned in Sam's eyes. "That's why her background check was strange. It was all fabricated. She's only been here for roughly three years. That's when the background check became less suspicious."

"Yup," Buffy and Dawn said together.

"So she _was_ sent to you to be protected," Daniel said.

"Yes."

A boyish grin appeared on Daniel's face. "See, I knew it made better sense to send it, or rather her, to Buffy for protection."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're real smart," Jack said with a roll of his eyes, despite the fact he had secretly agreed with him. He looked at Dawn. "You might want to turn the sound back on before security gets suspicious and comes to investigate. We can circumvent the topic of who you really are."

Dawn nodded and was thankful he said who and not what she was. After mumbling as few words she smiled at everyone to let them know the spell was done.

Jack turned his attention back to Buffy. "When I called, you said you already knew about this threat. Care to elaborate?"

"Remember that Willow was off on a Wiccan retreat when we were here last week?"  
"Yeah, I seem to remember something to that effect," Jack said, rubbing his eyes.

"She's still there but she sent word. The coven's seer had a vision." Buffy looked over at her sister and indicated for her to continue.

Dawn pulled a slip of paper out of her bag and recited, "The Key is in danger. A snake beyond the Chaapa'ai is close to the power. The Last Chosen and the Shanshu shall stand beside her along with the Shol'va, the Former Host, and the Fallen. No other shall be there or the Key will fall into darkness. Only beyond the Chaapa'ai will the Key be able to fulfill her destiny."

"Do all visions give such detailed instructions?" Teal'c asked.

"No," Buffy said with a sigh. "This one is _way_ more detailed than most, but we're still hazy on some of it." She took a deep breath. "It's like this... Better yet, Dawn, you explain it. You're explanation girl, Faith and I are the go out and kill it part of the group."

"Hey!" Spike protested.

"Ok, he does the fighting, too - when he's not being evil."

"Real mature," Spike said.

She just smiled cheekily at him.

"For the most part, it's self-explanatory," Dawn said, ignoring her sister and Spike. "The Key is in danger. The Chaapa'ai is the Stargate, the snake is a goa'uld - now known as Yort. Me, Spike, and Faith have to go through the gate to stop Yort. The only thing we don't know is who the other three are."

"Wait a minute," Jack said, waving his hands in the air. "How do you know that _you're _the ones who are supposed to go?"

"Me for obvious reasons," Dawn explained. "Faith because she is the last of the chosen, and Spike because he's the Shanshu."

"Shanshu?" Daniel asked. "I've never heard that term before."

Spike grinned. "Prophecy - souled vampire, fights in apocalypse, becomes human, that's me."

"So you're saying you're not a vampire now?" Jack asked, his brain slowly going into overload. This was beginning to top his weird stuff meter.

Spike nodded.

Without taking his eyes off of Spike, Jack leaned his head towards Sam and whispered, "I thought you said he was a vampire?"

"He was," Buffy said. "Now he's not. It's a thing, just go with it. We're still adjusting to it ourselves."

"Ok, so we know the Key, the Last Chosen, and the Shanshu," Dawn said, trying to get everyone back on track. "We just don't know who the Shol'va, the Former Host, and the Fallen are. I don't even know where to start looking."

Daniel grinned at her. "It's us."

Once again Jack asked, "Huh?"

"It's us," Daniel repeated, his grin getting bigger. "Teal'c was branded as a Shol'va for his betrayal of Apophis, Sam was briefly a host to the Tok'ra Jolinar, and I'm the Fallen."

"What did you fall from?" Faith asked curiously.

"I died and then ascended. I broke the rules and they, the other ascended, sent me back."

Buffy and Faith traded smirks before exchanging glances with Dawn and Spike.

"I know that that should shock me, but it just doesn't," Faith said tiredly.

Buffy shrugged and then gave SG-1 and Jack her most winning smile. "So it's settled then. They go through the gate, kick Wart's ass, and then we all go home."


	2. part 2

Sorry it took so long for this one to get out. I've seriously had most of the chapter written for months, but I kind of got stuck on the fight scene at the end. So I finally cheated a little on it and got it finished up. Otherwise, it might still be in my to be finished pile.

****

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zayra, manticore-gurl071134, John, jammies2000, Slinky-and-the-Bloodywands, Sarah, LittleDrusilla, harmoni9, Inanna, stephbro, chanel #5 - thank you guys so much for all of your reviews!

A/N: Anything like **_this _**indicates telepathy.

****

No Rest For The Weary

Part Two

"Never happen," Jack said.

Buffy smirked at him. "I think you underestimate our chances of kicking some serious gold butt."

"Oh no, not that. I know you kick ass. It's just the whole getting three civilians cleared to go through the gate thing that I'm doubting," Jack said with a grimace.

"You got us cleared to enter the mountain," Dawn pointed out. "What's the difference?"

"Ah," Jack said holding a finger up. "I got you cleared for a meeting. You've seen hallways and this room, nothing that's actually classified. The only reason why I was able to clear you for the meeting was because our current intelligence pertained to you."

"But taking care of this problem of yours is kind of dependent on us going through the gate," Faith said. "Just use that as an excuse."

"It's not that simple," Jack argued.

"Actually, sir, it is," Sam interrupted. "We've done it before when there were extenuating circumstances. Dr. Langford has gone through."

"But she used to be in charge of the program," Jack argued. "We weren't really telling her anything she didn't already know."

"Nick," Daniel said.

"Huh?"  
"I believe Daniel Jackson refers to Nicholas Ballard," Teal'c said. "We required his past experience with the crystal skull to rescue Daniel Jackson."

"He got cleared quickly enough," Daniel added.

"But we had a possible deadline. We had no idea how long you could have survived like that," Jack said. "Not to mention you spilled the beans to him in the first place."

"We have a deadline now," Buffy said. "The visions didn't exactly state one, but my spidey-sense keeps going off."

"Your spidey-sense?" Jack asked.

"Trouble warning system then. It twinges to warn about apocalypses, vampires, demons, or other dangers."  
"I sense it, too," Faith added.

Jack scowled. "You realize this means a lot of paperwork on my side?"

Buffy sent him a sickly sweet smile. "How soon?"

"Let me make some phone calls," Jack said, standing up. "In the meantime why don't you guys go with SG-1. They can start filling you in on the goa'uld."

"I'll go with you," Buffy said, following Jack. "If you can't get them access, I might be able to pull some strings."

****

XXXXXXXX

Daniel led them to a room that had tiered seating facing a screen. "Everyone take a seat and we'll begin."

"Wait a minute," Faith said, eyeing the chairs warily. "Is this going to be some sort of lecture."

"Well... yes. How else do you propose to learn all of this information?" Daniel asked.

"We just need to know what to expect from them and how to kill them. Don't confuse us with a bunch of crap we could care less about."

"Speak for yourself," Dawn muttered. Then in her normal voice she said, "Faith has a point though. We don't have time to learn about the history of the goa'uld. Just tell us about any of their technology we might encounter and what Yort might throw at us. Plus, we already know some things."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"They're slimy snake wankers that burrow into your head and take control," Spike said distractedly as he wandered around the room.

"They're stronger than normal humans and they have fast healing. Sort of like alien versions of slayers," Faith said with a shrug.

"They tend to view humans as cattle fodder, just like most demons and instead of trying to rule the world, they're trying to rule the galaxy," Spike added.

"How was that?" Dawn asked.

Daniel blinked in surprise. "Actually, that's a pretty accurate summary. That pretty much leaves their technology." He turned to his friends. "Sam, Teal'c, your turn."

Sam smiled and began to lead them out of the room and through the corridors. As they walked, she explained, "Since we will be accompanying you, we don't need to go in depth on the technology. It's far too complex for me to explain everything in such a short time. What we can show and explain to you are the weapons we're likely to encounter."

"Sounds good," Faith said with a nod as the tall blonde went through a few security checks.

They ended up in a small room lined with different drawers - all locked. She unlocked one and slid it open to reveal a strange gold object. Sam lifted out and slid it over her hand. Gold tips fit over the ends of her fingers with a stone nestled in the palm of her hand. "This is one of their most dangerous weapons."

"No offense, but it doesn't look like a weapon," Spike said, eyeing it skeptically.

"The hand device has several uses," Sam said. "It can be used to repel an enemy, create a shield, and as a torture device. Only those with naquadah in their blood can use them."

"Naquadah?" Dawn asked.

"A mineral that's not native to our solar system. The stargate is made from it and it has some amazing properties. The goa'uld have it in their systems. When they join with the host it leaves a protein marker so even former hosts can use their technology."

"Does that mean you can use it?" Dawn asked.

"Yes," Sam said, a little reluctantly.

"Care to demonstrate?" Faith asked, interested in how the device worked.

"I'd rather not. My control isn't the best," she answered, taking the device off and putting it back.

Faith could see that there was something else hidden in her eyes, but chose not to push it. "How many will have these?"

"Probably just Yort. Since he's a minor leader I doubt that he will have other goa'ulds serving him," Sam answered, leading them out of the room and through the corridors once again. "Our main opposition will come from his Jaffa."

"Guys like Teal'c?" Faith asked. At Sam's nod, she grinned. "Wicked. Means Blondie and I should be able to sense them coming."

"You can sense them like you do vampires?" Daniel asked, his eyes burning with curiosity.

"Sort of. We can tell somethin's off with him and Sam. Kind of niggles at the back of the head," Spike said. With an exaggerated wink at Sam, he added, "Don't worry, pet, it's barely noticeable."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Spike thinks he's charming. Just ignore him, we do."

"Bit, I'm hurt," Spike said, affecting an injured tone.

"No, you're not," Dawn shot back with a smile.

"You know, you used to be nicer," Spike ground out.

"And then I grew up," she glibly replied.

"What other kind of weapons will they use?" Faith asked after smirking at the bickering friends.

"Staff weapons and zat'ni'katels," Teal'c answered.

"Bless you," Faith responded. Teal'c raised an eyebrow and she shifted slightly. "What? You sneezed."

"Indeed I did not. The zat'ni'katel is a weapon that can stun or kill your opponent."

"Wicked, you got any of those nickel things lying around?"  
"Zat'ni'katel."  
"Is what I said, nikos."  
Sam laughed. "We usually just call them zats."  
"Then, do you have any zats around here?" Faith asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Both weapons are stored in here," Sam answered, opening the door to the armory.

****

XXXXXXXX

"Hey Giles, how are things in Cleveland?" Buffy asked later that day as she played with the phone cord. Jack had so graciously offered the use of his office phone for her to call Giles and fill him in.

"Quiet," he replied.

"Any more news from the coven?"

"No. The vision was probably all we're going to receive from them. Why? Are you having problems convincing General O'Neill?"  
Buffy smiled over at Jack who was trying to pretend that he wasn't listening in. "Surprisingly no. He's being very cooperative. I was just checking to see if we got any more warnings before we carried out our plans."

"Did you suss out who the other three were?"

"Yeah, they were closer to home than we realized."  
"Jack's former team?" Giles asked, his years of working with Buffy giving him the occasional ability to decipher her cryptic words and abuse of the English language.

"Yup, fill you in on the whys and whatnots later, it's a rather long story."  
"It's not as complicated as she makes it!" Jack called out. "Daniel was able to explain it without boring us!"

"What was that?" Giles asked.

"Jack being obnoxious," Buffy said, sticking her tongue out at the now pouting General.

"Now, now Buffy. You don't know me well enough to make hasty judgments like that. I was trying to be helpful."

"Oh please, you practically yelled that in my ear. I have sensitive hearing so how was that helpful?"  
Jack winced. "Oops."

"Are you two finished and ready to tell me about these plans you've made?" Giles patiently asked in Buffy's ear through the phone.

"Sorry Giles, but the General here is like a kid sometimes," Buffy said apologetically.

"Like you have room to talk," Jack scoffed.

Buffy glared at him as she continued her conversation with Giles. "We've got the plans for Yort's palace..."  
"Yort?"  
"Evil gold guy. They're gonna go through the gate, strongly convince him to leave us alone, and then come home," Buffy cheerfully explained.

"Please tell me there's more to the plan than that," Giles said with a sigh.

"Of course there's more to the plan," Buffy said defensively.

"They're gonna blow things up!" Jack added.

"Dear lord."  
"Giles, I can hear you cleaning your glasses," Buffy griped.

****

XXXXXXXX

The next afternoon, Dawn stood in the gateroom with the others and watched in fascination as the inner ring spun and chevrons locked into place. Sam had explained to her yesterday how the gate worked. She didn't quite follow everything that the brilliant scientist had said, but she had followed enough to be in complete awe of the technology in front of her.

It was a bit intimidating though. She was about to broken down into energy and shot through space in a subspace wormhole and then put back together on the other end... or something like that. Dawn snuck a glance over at Spike and Faith and was relieved to see that she wasn't the only one a little unnerved by the thought.

Up in the control room, Buffy fidgeted quietly next to Jack. She could see SG-1 doing last minute checks, completely ignoring the huge honkin' circle in the room. Her eyes swept over her sister and friends to reassure herself that they were adequately armed. Faith was visibly carrying the scythe and several knives. Spike and Dawn each had a sword strapped to their backs and knives their hips. All three of them were carrying those strange guns called zits or something.

The final chevron locked into place and Buffy could feel Jack's gaze on her, eager to watch her reaction. She forced herself to stay neutral as something like water shot out of the gate before pulling back and becoming a shiny, rippling surface. Even though she was flabbergasted on the inside, she remained calm on the outside. Deciding to add insult to injury, she looked over at Jack and dryly asked, "Is that all it does? I'd ask for my money back."  
Jack glared at her and resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her. Instead, he moved to the microphone that allowed him to talk to those in the gateroom. "SG-1 and Scoobies, you have a go." He smiled at the two indignant faces that turned to look up at him.

"I resent that remark!" Spike yelled.

"I've never been a Scooby," Faith added.

"You both are, you're just ashamed to admit it," Dawn said with a smirk.

"Told you it would work," Buffy murmured to Jack.

"What is this Scoobies O'Neill mentioned?" Teal'c asked as they walked up the ramp to the gate.

"Scooby-Doo was a cartoon in the seventies," Sam explained. "We'll show you when we get back."

The six disappeared through the gate and then the shining surface winked out.

"They'll be fine," Jack said, looking at Buffy's worried face.

"I know," she said softly.

"The cake here is pretty good," he offered.

"Cake?" Buffy asked, perking up.

****

XXXXXXXXX

As soon as Faith emerged on the other side, she stretched out her senses. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dark surroundings as she scanned the area for possible threats. When she was satisfied that nothing was going to attack them, she turned to her companions. "Whoa," she whispered.

"What's wrong?" Spike asked.

"Check out little B."  
They all turned to stare at Dawn.

"Holy Hannah," Sam choked out.

Dawn still seemed to be a little shaken by the trip if her deep breaths were any indication. But that wasn't the cause of everyone's concern. The fact that she was glowing a faint green however, _was_ a matter of concern.

"Dawn Summers, what seems to be the problem?" Teal'c asked.

"I can feel the magic. The Key. It's like I suddenly have access to all of this... this power."  
"And?" Faith prompted.

"It's a little overwhelming."  
"Yeah, but can you control the glowing thing? 'Cause frankly, it's a little creepy."  
"I'm not sure," Dawn admitted.

"If you can't, we'll have to scrub the mission. We can't infiltrate his palace when you're glowing," Sam informed her.

Dawn nodded and closed her eyes. A few moments later the glow faded away. "Alright," she said, opening her eyes. "Let's go. I think I've got it under control."  
"You think?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, I think," she said with a shrug. "This is all new for me so I'm just guessin' here."

****

XXXXXXXX

Daniel sighed as he watched Dawn pace their small cell. He couldn't believe that he'd been captured. Again. Jack was going to kill him. Of course, that was if Buffy didn't kill him first for letting her sister get captured. Either way, he was dead.

"I got to say this is a lot nicer than being chained to a wall and less scary than being held by a crazed hell-god," Dawn said finally, sitting down beside him.

"Excuse me?"  
"I've been captured so many times that it's almost expected. At least it's not Tuesday."  
"You couldn't have warned us?" Daniel asked.

"It's a little embarrassing," she said with a little smile. "All that's left now is the waiting for the rescue."

"Couldn't you just use your magic to break us out?"  
She shook her head. "All of this new power changes how I'm supposed to cast. I need to practice in a controlled environment. If I tried now, I could accidentally blow us up instead of getting us out of here."

"Oh, that's bad."  
"Just a little, yeah."

****

XXXXXXXX

Jack watched Buffy push her barely touched cake around her plate. He had a huge hunch that he knew what was bugging her. "If you don't like chocolate we have yellow. Just figured you were a chocolate kind of gal," he said, his tone light.

She halfheartedly put a piece in her mouth and slowly chewed.

He waited to see if she would say something. When it seemed that no verbal response was coming, he tried a different tact. "It's tough, being on the other side."  
"Huh?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Sending others out to fight and having to wait. Not knowing if they're safe or not. If they'll come back dragging... It's tough."

Buffy lowered her gaze back to her cake and nodded. "I've been sending slayers out for a while, but it doesn't get easier. It's even worse this time 'cause it's my sister and..."  
"Faith?" He asked with a smirk.

"Her I don't worry about. I know she can handle herself. But I've always fought next to Dawn. I don't..."  
"I've seen her fight. She'll be fine. Plus, she's got the added protection of my team, I mean SG-1."

She looked back up. "It's just as hard for you isn't it? Your friends are out there without you to watch their backs."  
"I know Carter can lead, it's just..."  
"You want to be there in the thick of things," she finished for him.

"Course it doesn't help that Daniel has this nasty habit of getting captured or hurt. Plus his tendency to die on us."  
"Dawn has the same problem. Not the dieing thing, but the captured thing."  
"Oh crap. This could get ugly."  
"Real ugly," she agreed. She stabbed her cake with her fork. "This sucks."

"Definitely. I find it easier if I do something to take my mind off of things. A distraction if you will. A..."  
"Got a punching bag around? I feel like hitting something."  
Jack smiled and stood. "Follow me."

****

XXXXXXXX

"This must be the traditional taken to the head bad guy and get threats of torture and even death," Dawn said dryly as she and Daniel were lead out of their cell.

"Demons and vampires do that too, huh?" He asked, stumbling as one of the Jaffa roughly pushed him.

"It's a bad guy trait. Got to throw their evil weight around otherwise the minions won't respect or fear them," Dawn said conversationally, as if this was just a normal walk through the park.

"Makes sense. We could write a paper on it," he suggested. "Pass it around to the newbies so they know what to expect."  
"Could call it, 'How Not to Get Bored With Your Captors. A Hundred and One Ways to Annoy Them Back.'" She said with a grin. **_Faith and the others are already hidden outside of Yort's chambers. They're gonna wait to attack until they're sure he hasn't sent a covert team out yet._**

Right. So we need to get Yort to talk. Should be fun. Daniel said, a little weirded out. It wasn't everyday he carried on real conversations with someone else in his head. "I'm sure Jack'll get a kick out of it, especially seeing how many times I've been captured."

"You too, huh?" She said as they were shoved into a room where a bald man sat upon something that could be called a throne. Leaning close to Daniel she whispered, "This is who we're supposed to be worried about."

"Do not speak unless spoken to," a Jaffa behind them barked. He jammed the butt of his staff weapon into the back of their knees, causing them to collapse. "Kneel before your god."

"They always do that," Daniel whispered to Dawn. He was feeling a little giddy. It wasn't often that he knew exactly what his rescuers were up to while he was kidnapped.

"Tau'ri spies, I presume?" The figure on the throne said in a hollow voice.

"Tau'ri?" Dawn asked, clearly confused.

"Nope, sorry. We're not Tau'ri. So if you'd just let us go..." Daniel said.

"Silence!" The goa'uld rose to his feet and approached them. "You could not have come alone. Where are the others?"

Dawn was finding it hard to take the alien seriously. He was barely taller than Buffy and his red hair was plainly thinning. It didn't help that he had a healthy dose of freckles across his nose. He didn't look the least bit dangerous or frightening. What she really wanted to do was laugh in his face.

**__**

Remember the plan, Little B. Faith said.

"There's no one else. We were suppose to gather intelligence," Dawn firmly stated, looking Yort in the eye. She could feel Daniel's confused gaze on her, but ignored him. "We figured it would be easier for two people to sneak around. Although honestly, your security here sucks. A whole army could fall on your 'palace' here and you wouldn't know it until you were dead."

Yort's eyes flashed and he backhanded her, busting her lip in the process. "Insolent girl! You have come to learn the location of the Key so you can harness its power for yourself."

Daniel saw the paleness of Dawn's face and sought to divert the attention from her. "You figured us out," he exclaimed in mock amazement. "You must be a god. So, uh, where was that Key again?"  
"Uh oh," Dawn whimpered, stilling Yort's hand before it could strike Daniel.

They turned to see that Dawn was glowing a faint green and the blood that dropped to the floor glowed a strange white light before winking out.

"That's... bad," Daniel said in a hushed voice.

Yort laughed. "This was the Tau'ri's plan? To bring me the very thing which I sought?" He grabbed Dawn and roughly pulled her to her feet. "Tell me how do you open the portal to a vast army?"  
"Go to hell," she spat. Another drop of blood briefly flared to life as it fell.

**__**

Anytime now, Faith! Dawn sent out as she saw recognition flare in Yort's eyes. **_We're not going to learn anything else._**

Be there in a sec.

Without looking away from Dawn, Yort held out his hand to his First Prime. "Give me your knife."  
"No!" Daniel cried, struggling to his feet, only to be held down by two Jaffa.

"You don't want to do this," Dawn said as Yort held the knife over her exposed arm.

"Let her go!" Spike yelled as he and the others burst into the room.

Confusion broke out as weapons began firing. Daniel took advantage of the commotion to break fee of his captors. He heard Dawn cry out in pain and he looked to see blood running down her arm. As it pooled on the floor, it shimmered and glowed in a manner similar to the gate.

"That's really bad," he muttered.

Yort laughed as varied types of demons began pouring out of the portal. "My servants, bow before your god. We shall go forth and wreak destruction upon..."

He was interrupted by one of the demons savagely running him through with a sword. Yort's eyes glowed briefly as he looked down in shock. Then slowly, he toppled to the floor, dead.

Spike grabbed Dawn and ushered her into a corner with Daniel. The former vampire and Faith stood between them and the demon horde.

"Jaffa, kree!" Teal'c commanded. He could see that they were having difficulties deciding which enemy was to be fought and destroyed - the Tau'ri spies or the demons. As he swung his staff weapon to knock aside a demon, he called out, "They will serve no master but their own evil will. Fight! For now you are free Jaffa!"

Daniel was relieved to see the Jaffa begin to fight the demons, it helped improve their odds of surviving. There was something about the portal that bothered him though. His brain sifted through all of the research he had done on the Wiccan religion. His brown eyes widened as he realized what the problem was. "Dawn! I thought the dimensional walls were supposed to break down. I only see _a_ portal."

"That was a one time thing," she said, as Daniel bandaged her arm. "Apparently, I just opens portals now."  
"How do we close it?"  
"I don't know. Last time 'the blood had to stop flowing' because the power was in my blood. Since I was made from Buffy, she jumped, died, and it closed."  
Daniel froze in his ministrations. "Does that mean..."  
"That _I_ have to die this time?"

"Uhh, yeah."  
She shrugged. "I don't know. Willow's better at this magic stuff. I just learned the basics of what I would need in the field. I can't believe she wasn't suppose to be here."  
"What did the vision say again?" Daniel asked, his brow furrowing in concentration.

"No other shall be there or the Key will fall into darkness. Only beyond the Chaapa'ai will the Key be able to fulfill her destiny," she recited. "Why?"  
Daniel's brain quickly put everything together as the battle raged on around them. "You're the one who has to close the portal."  
"But I'll..."  
"No, you won't. You're fulfilling a destiny here," he argued. "How would you normally close a portal?"  
"Blood and a chant usually work..." Her eyes lit up with understanding. "You think it'll work?"  
"Never know until we try," he said with a grin.

"Faith! Spike! Cover me while I close the portal."  
"Do you know what you're doing, 'Bit?" Spike asked.

"Not really, but we'll soon find out," she said.

Sam frowned as she was informed through the telepathic link about the new plan. Concentrating her fire on making them a path, she hoped that Dawn could pull this off. If not, things were going to go from really bad to worse.

Over the sounds of fighting, she could hear Dawn's voice chanting in a language she didn't understand. The demons, sensing what she was doing, tried to converge on her, but Faith and Spike held them at by. Sam was struck by the brief thought that she wished she could move that quickly.

Before she knew it, the portal winked out. The last demon jumped at Dawn, but Sam shot it with her zat. The demon collided with Dawn and blue sparks covered her body as she collapsed.

Everyone rushed over to her and pulled the large demon off of her. Faith decapitated it to ensure that it wouldn't rise.

Dawn groaned as she opened her eyes. "Did anyone get the number of that bus?"  
"Sorry, but it was about to..." Sam began.

"It's ok," Dawn assured her. "Really not complaining about the life savage. Thanks."  
Sam just smiled and nodded.

****

XXXXXXXX

Buffy looked sheepishly up at Jack. "I'm sorry I broke it."  
"It's all right. It was evil. We'll just buy a new one," he said easily.

"Just send me the bill and I'll replace it."  
"Nah. Air Force'll take care of it," he said, wrapping an arm around her slim shoulders and leading her away from the carnage.

"Are you sure?"  
"Of course I'm sure. I'm the one who signs off on these little expenditures," he assured her with a grin.

"As long as..." She was interrupted by a klaxon.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Said a voice over the speakers.

"They're back," Buffy said and the two raced through the corridors.

They reached the gateroom as the iris slid open and a few moments later their friends and family stepped through the event horizon. Buffy nearly cried in relief because, although they were dirty, they appeared to be relatively unharmed. She ran to her sister and encased her in a bone crushing hug.

"Thank god," Buffy murmured.

"Air," Dawn wheezed.

"Sorry," Buffy said releasing her and stepping back. "Why are you glowing? And your arm is bleeding!"

Dawn closed her eyes for a moment and the glowing stopped. She opened her eyes and smiled wearily at her sister. "It's a long story."  
"'Bit saved the day," Spike said with pride.

"Spike!" Buffy cried before hugging him tightly.

"There, there, Slayer. We all made it back in one piece," he said, relishing the feel of her in his arms.

Behind them, Faith spoke up, "Please don't hug me."  
"Ok," Buffy said as she let go of Spike. "But it's still good to see you."  
"Buffy," Dawn said, drawing her sister's attention. "Why are you and Jack covered in.. in sand?"  
"No reason," Buffy said too quickly, sending Jack a warning glance which he promptly ignored.

"Your sister did some slaying of her own while you were gone. I was caught in the crossfire," Jack said, his eyes full of mirth.

"Oh, Buffy. Did you destroy _another_ punching bag?" Dawn asked with a sigh. "That's the third one this month."  
"Maybe," Buffy said slowly.

Taking pity on her, Jack looked everyone over. "Hit the showers and then the infirmary. Briefing in two hours."

****

XXXXXXXXX

Two weeks later, Buffy and Jack sat down at their respective desks. They were surprised to find a thin, bound manuscript lying on top of their other paperwork. Without knowing it, they groaned simultaneously as they read the first page.

__

This essay contains everything a new member of our organization needs to know in the likely event of their capture. I'm sure you'll want to make copies and pass it around.

Yours,

Dawn Be Glad It's Not Tuesday Summers

and

Dr. Daniel Death Is My Middle Name Jackson

****

finis


End file.
